The most decorated female spy during World War II was Virginia Hall (1906-1982). Born to a wealthy Baltimore family in 1906, Hall should have followed the traditional path of making an advantageous marriage. Instead, after college stints at Radcliffe and Barnard and time spent in Paris, Hall set her sights on becoming an ambassador. The State Department rejected her application several times and would not name the first female ambassador, Helen Eugenie Moore Anderson, until 1949.

Hall suffered a hunting accident that resulted in gangrene and a wooden leg. Later she joined British intelligence and was sent into Nazi-occupied France in 1941. Posing as a reporter for the New York Post, Hall slipped notice of the Gestapo, who likely could not believe that a limping woman could be dangerous.

A gifted spy, Hall organized French resistance fighters and found them safe houses and supplies. Ultimately, the infamous Klaus Barbie, "the Butcher of Lyon," was onto "the limping lady." Hall eventually escaped to Spain, a journey that required her to walk 50 miles in heavy snow with a wooden leg over the Pyrenees Mountains.

Learn more about Virginia Hall via an NPR story about her or a U.S. Army look back at her service. 

This article was produced by the Chancellor's Commission on Women.